MBB: NESCAC

[lumbercat]

Surprised by the Snow Panther loss tonight.
Colby never saw a three they didn't like- fun to watch, run n gun. Don't know if that holds up in the long run.
Hamilton sneaks by the Ephs.
A good start to what shapes up as an entertaining season.
Bates on the sidelines tonight.....Bobcats might ruffle some feathers......Their FY Big is Omar Sarr.

[MiddWatcher]

Nice win for Amherst. Quality shooting; outrebounded Midd 47 - 33. Wore them down. Size and strength a huge factor. Midd hung in for awhile, mostly due to Farrell. Folger played, with glasses protecting 4 stitches. Sobel's name is no longer on roster. No info on that. Midd will need to adjust; team was very slight compared to Amherst - and Amherst played extremely well.

[Old Guy]

I was headed to Amherst, but decided not to go at the last minute (freezing rain in the forecast — three hour drive at night), glad I didn't. Hate Lafrak, chamber of horrors. Remember meeting AMH63 for the first time, after an agonizing OT loss to the then Jeffs 6-8 years ago, and AMH63 offered to introduce Young Guy, then a high school student, to Coach Hixon — my son gave him such a look. AMH63 is a good fellow, more dispassionate than we.

Observations: Amherst won because they played better. It was a great first half, back and forth, really good basketball. The 4 minute drought at the beginning of the second half was fatal for the Panthers. I told everybody that Folger was out this weekend because of the eye laceration in the Plattsburgh game — that was the news I got, but he played (senior captain, profile of courage I guess): don't know if or how much he was compromised. Sellow was excellent in the first half — and the Mammoth defense was very solid in the second, especially on Farrell and his patented dashes to the hoop (4 TOs). There  were a couple or three Bosco/Farrell drives where the shots curled out that might have helped. Day (21 points) killed us: he was terrific. I needed a two and half minute "timeout" in the second half after I yelled at Old Girl for offering a mollifying comment as Midd was falling behind. She understands: it was Amherst. Maybe we'll get 'em again down the road.

Turned to the end of the Williams-Hamilton game, thinking I would see an Ephs win because that the last I knew they were up double-digits. Somebody will report, I trust, with details of the Conts' comeback. I thought the Ephs win would benefit Midd somehow. Gilmour went to the line with Hamilton up by one point with 4.5 secs left, missed the front end of a two point award, then front-rimmed the second too. All Wms got on the rebound possession was a backcourt desperation heave from Prowitt-Smith. Wonder if Kena missed the second on purpose (assuming Williams was out of timeouts) to keep the clock running. Smaht.

Form held tonight except for Midd-Amherst which was not a shocker. Tufts-Wes looked like a pretty good game. Wes is a factor. Big day tomorrow. A demain.

[amh63]

Jefffan....if you get to read this post prior to the Williams game in LeFrak, I would like for you to say Hi to two old friends for me.  I shared their company several times in Salem Va.  Saw them sitting by the Amherst players entrance to the locker room...first row.  One, wearing a purple sweater was a great player for Amherst...class of '64...who has a son that was a fine player for Trinity.  The other person, also an alum, helped in getting the Hamilton WBB HC to Amherst.  The HC of the Hamilton WBB team sought advice.  The "other person" was a trustee of Hamilton at the time .
Also, Jefffan....Hannah Fox of the WBB team is also a star lacrosse player and may be from a place near you in Pa.
Old Guy, thanks for the kind words...but I am not a person to be around when watching close games.  Believe the things that helped Amherst win over Midd yesterday were in not any order ..depth, less TOs and team defense.  Amherst has the speed/quickness to slow down the fine guards of Midd. Expect to see Midd again in the Nescac Tourny...hopefully in LeFrak .

[maineman]

Nice win for Amherst. Quality shooting; outrebounded Midd 47 - 33. Wore them down. Size and strength a huge factor. Midd hung in for awhile, mostly due to Farrell. Folger played, with glasses protecting 4 stitches. Sobel's name is no longer on roster. No info on that. Midd will need to adjust; team was very slight compared to Amherst - and Amherst played extremely well.

Another Zach Baines moment?

[nescac1]

Huge, desperately-needed win for the Ephs.  Finally a close one goes their way.  Gutted it out behind a monster game from Matt Karpowicz, truly all-American level play, and (finally!) clutch free throw shooting.  Overcame monster games from Sellew and Allen.  And the Ephs did it without Cole Prowitt Smith, who was missed.  Fingers crossed he can come back soon (seems like maybe a calf, if so could be a tough injury).  More thoughts later ....

[jumpshot]

An absolute character win by Williams in crushing the mammoths 72-69 at Amherst, despite missing a key player who scored 25 points last night at Hamilton ----and committing 9 turnovers to start the second half in giving up an 11 point lead!

EPHS grit impressive ....Way to go guys.

[nescac1]

That was indeed a gutty win for Williams.  Seemed overdue for a few shots to fall their way in the last minute of a game.  The free throw shooting, 86 percent, and perfect once Amherst started fouling intentionally late, was absolutely massive.  Karp has been playing unbelievable ball of late and I think today was his best game, even better than Springfield.   Amherst threw all sorts of defenders at him and he still finished with 21-11-3, only one turnover, and 9-12 from the field and 3-3 (!) from the line.  Unreal effort, and hit some extremely difficult shots.  He sure doesn't miss Joe Schneider!  For Williams, Spencer Spivy, Henry Feinberg, and Jovan Jones also had very nice games.  Spivy, despite having some struggles dealing with Devonn Allen (no shame in that), had a lot of clutch shots including some pretty moves to the rim.  I though Ryan Moon, although he played only a few minutes, was a key player in the second half, helped to steady the ship against Amherst's ultra aggressive perimeter D.  Until Cole comes back, I'd play him more minutes because we need a guy just to handle the ball and to defend quick guards. 

Honestly, I thought it was over for Williams when Amherst turned an 11 point deficit into an 8 point lead early in the second half.  The Ephs should couldn't deal with Amherst's pressure on the perimeter, looked sort of helpless for that stretch.  But Amherst did have to expend a massive amount of energy and the defensive intensity was never quite as high, and Williams also settled in a bit and started to play in a more composed fashion. 

For Amherst, Eric Sellew was nasty on both ends.  He has improved tremendously each year in the program and has gotten so much quicker with the ball in his hands.  He is very difficult to deal with in the high pick and roll because he can get to the rim but also pass from the middle of the defense.  Seems like their best player right now.  Devonn Allen was a two-way monster in the second half, although the stat sheet shows only two steals he forced at least 3-4 more turnovers.  And he hit a number of dagger 3's.  Fru Che, as always against the Ephs, played great as well.  I agree with others that Grant Robinson isn't the same guy he was last year.  He can bring that explosion off the bounce on a play or two each half, but it doesn't seem to be there consistently.  He runs the offense with great craft but isn't the same dude getting to the rim and finishing there.  And Day, the ultimate streaky player, had one of his off days from outside.  For Amherst to reach their lofty expectations. they need Robinson to do a bit more offensively, because the depth of playmakers isn't there. 

[JEFFFAN]

Fun game to watch in person.  Sort of a big pillow fight among two good but certainly not close to great teams.   I thought the Williams perimeter defense and the play of #24 were the difference.  Amherst couldn't stop #24 - surprised they stopped doubling him down low.   Williams perimeter defense was also very good. A game of runs.

For Amherst, not sure why but Grant Robinson has lost a step offensively compared to last year.   He can't get by anyone right now.  Seller is their best player right now which is a surprise.   Just not a very special team to say the least.   Certainly can't win close games to be sure.   Long winter upon us at Amherst!

But fun game to attend.

[jumpshot]

mammoth faithful ---a thought for you to consider ...

the former lord jeffs season thus far of 10-4 includes 7 scrimmages won against the following teams by these margins with current won/loss records: Lasell 38 3-10;Elmira 56, 1-12; Fitchburg St 22, 7-7; Pine Manor 50,3-12; Baruch 26 9-4;U-W Whitewater 22, 5-9;
Lesley 72!, 0-12.

Following the first three scrimmages with a combined margin of 116 points, the lj's lose to Westfield State and Babson. After four more scrimmages with a combined margin of 170 points, the lj's lose to Wesleyan and Williams.

Don't misunderstand ...I believe each coach is free to schedule whomever... amh63 calls these games "spring training". As a former player who went 16-0 versus the lj's over four years in two sports, my preference (and that of several other NESCAC coaches over the years) was to compete against the best available, including multiple wins over Ivy League schools. Why play numerous less competitive schools year-in-and-year out ?

Perhaps today's improvement shown by the EPHS was earned in part by their schedule. What say you regarding the lj's long-standing approach to what is an element of obviously a successful program?

[Bucket]

mammoth faithful ---a thought for you to consider ...

the former lord jeffs season thus far of 10-4 includes 7 scrimmages won against the following teams by these margins with current won/loss records: Lasell 38 3-10;Elmira 56, 1-12; Fitchburg St 22, 7-7; Pine Manor 50,3-12; Baruch 26 9-4;U-W Whitewater 22, 5-9;
Lesley 72!, 0-12.

Following the first three scrimmages with a combined margin of 116 points, the lj's lose to Westfield State and Babson. After four more scrimmages with a combined margin of 170 points, the lj's lose to Wesleyan and Williams.

Don't misunderstand ...I believe each coach is free to schedule whomever... amh63 calls these games "spring training". As a former player who went 16-0 versus the lj's over four years in two sports, my preference (and that of several other NESCAC coaches over the years) was to compete against the best available, including multiple wins over Ivy League schools. Why play numerous less competitive schools year-in-and-year out ?

Perhaps today's improvement shown by the EPHS was earned in part by their schedule. What say you regarding the lj's long-standing approach to what is an element of obviously a successful program?

Or maybe today's result was just one game, jumpshot. Let's not overlook the fact that Amherst beat Springfield, something Williams couldn't do, and handed Middlebury its first loss of the year last night. An otherwise weak schedule did not prevent either win.

I can't believe I'm coming to the defense of Amherst (!), but I'd argue that today's result had absolutely nothing to do with scheduling, Amherst's or Williams's. Today, the Ephs were slightly better. Simple as that.

[JEFFFAN]

Well, the elephant in the room that I will toss out there is whether this squad loses those four games if Hixon is coaching?   Tommey looks fine out there but can anyone tell me that a 27 year old interim coach who has never been the head coach of ANYTHING is going to make the adjustments a Hall of Fame coach is going to make?   Not a chance.  That comment takes nothing away from the opposition but this is largely the same lineup that went 25-5 last year.    All four losses have been close where coaching might make a difference.   I wouldn't have dreamed of bringing this up but for the schedule question, said schedule which never bothered Hixon teams previously, did it?   It is not an excuse, it is not whining, it is not complaining.   They play hard.    They just do not have much of an identity for a team that is within one loss - and conversely 18 wins - of equaling last years results.

Addendum:  Aaron Toomey is the greatest player in Amherst history - he has earned every right to be interim coach.   Dave Hixon is the winningest coach in Amherst history, by a long shot - he has earned every right to take a sabbatical.  All good from my perspective even if they don't achieve this year what one might have hoped.   By the way ... Hixon took a sabbatical when his team only plays one senior - maybe 1.5 seniors - with any regularity.  Assuming he comes back, it will be to a very seasoned, senior laden squad,

[nescac1]

I honestly don't think it's schedule or coaching.  Toomey beat a much better Williams team last year, recall.  I think it's probably mostly random chance / noise.  In the first Williams-Amherst game last year, Fru Che hit a really tough shot, then Bobby Casey missed a very good look by a fraction of an inch.  Amherst wins by one.  Tonight, Robinson could easily have hit a game-winning shot late, in fact he hit much tougher shots in similar situations vs Williams last year.  I don't think either late-game outcome reflected in any way on coaching.  Or scheduling for that matter.  Just two dead even games with randomly different outcomes.

Further comparing: Amherst lost to Babson and Wesleyan by this point last year.  Same with this year.  Wesleyan is a bit worse but Babson is way better.  Westfield State is an ugly loss but that's only one game.  And Amherst (like Williams) could very easily have 2-3 more wins with a few good bounces here and there.  It does not seem to me that this year's Amherst team is much different at the same point in the season. And while a few guys are noticeably better, no frosh appear to be impact players, Robinson seems limited in some way still, and Schneider and the other graduated bigs made scoring inside brutal last season.

[amh63]

Interesting comments on a disappointing lost on a game that counts in the conference....at home.  Hope it will be a game the young Amherst team will learn from.  Amherst will meet both Wes and EpHs again.  Will see if the "ball" bounces Amherst's way next time.  Would like to see more scoring in the paint for Amherst.  Yes, the long ball has come into the conference play this season Big time.  Colby is using it to score and win games.  Amherst has a number of 3-pt. Shooters.  However, Amherst needs to develop more inside players...Toomey is doing that as well as well as improving Amherst's perimeter defense.  Getting home court advantage in the Nescac tourney is the key goal presently for Amherst's coaches, IMO. 

[MiddWatcher]

Hard fought win for the Middlebury Panthers today in Clinton, NY over a game Hamilton squad. The Continentals showed fine balance in building a lead as large as 7 points before a Panther comeback led by Jack Farrell, Tommy Eastman and Ryan Cahill turned the game around for Midd. A huge Cahill dunk gave the visitors a 71 - 64 lead before Hamilton tried to duplicate their comeback story from the night before vs. Williams. They even took a 76 - 75 lead with 14 seconds remaining before the " play of the game " occurred - a three point shot attempt by Max Bosco missed - but he was fouled in the act and calmly made two of three FTs to win. A sidebar to the final play was that Hamilton had only committed three team fouls when Midd inbounded from the sideline. No attempt to foul was made with those three free fouls to use. Will leave it to the reader to gauge whether that was a missed strategic opportunity, or not.  Griffin Kornaker, once again, defended the opponents' star player ( Kena Gilmour ) and held him to a quiet 16.  Midd grapevine suggested that Alex Sobel is a possible returnee, but is involved in personal health issues. Matt Folger again played with goggles covering his stitched up right eye. So Midd has a big three game week coming up with a somewhat handicapped squad.